New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1887-06-01
DECORATION DAY

DECORATION DAY
appropriately Observed at the
I'asbkic Cemetery.
a Great Number. Of Citizens Turn
Out to Attend the Exercises In
Honor. of the Dead.
Under the auspices of Hecker Post
No. 48, G. A. r., Memorial Day was.
as in previous years, ftfully observed
at the public cemetery. In accordance
with the programme that had been ar
ranged, the procession formed in front
Of Turner Hall in the following order:
Officer of the Day.
City Council.
New Ulm City Band.
Company A, End Regt. M. N. G.
Upper Grades of Public Schools.
Mixed Choir.
Hecker Post No. 48, G. A. r.
Citizens in Carriages.
The procession moved along Sd
South Street, Minnesota Street, 4th
North Street, the church bells
ringing when it entered State
Street. Upon arrival at the cemetery,
the band played a funeral march, while
the several organizations and the citi-
zens in attendance arranged themselves
in circle about the monument erected
| in memory of those who had fallen
on the battlefield of the South, as well
as of those who had given up their lives
in the defense of New Ulm against the
Sioux. The exercises opened with a
four-part song rendered by the
pupils and teachers of the public
schools: s'How sleep the brave who
sink to rest" words adapted from Col
Inns, music by F. Abt. This was fol-
lowed by an address in English, by Mr..
r. Nix. By special request we give
the address in full:
''Fellow Citizens: More than quar-
ter of a century has elapsed since the
first shot fired upon Fort Sum-
ter apprised the world of the beginning
of that dire conflict which involved our
national unity. In many battle the
stars and stripes had tioated over Ameri-
can armies defending against foreign
aggression the hard-won soil and ma
tional honor of the young republic.
But the time had come when this glori.
Gus banner, the very emblem Of union,
was assailed by sons of the American
soil. It was at this critical hour that
the people of the North gave proof of a
| loyalty and devotion to their country
well-nigh unprecedented in the annals
of the world. The call to arms was
echoed from ocean to ocean. From
farm and city, from workshop and
countingroom, from the bar and the
| pulpit the citizens fastened to defend
the integrity of the Union. No royal
summons babe them assemble; no great
military leaders, name inspired that
confidence in victory which makes light
of hardship and danger; no gorgeous
! standard emblazoned with ensigns ar.
mortal dazzled their eyes. It was this
simple flag, endeared to every true
American heart, that gathered around
it tens of thousands of loyal braves, de.
termined to defend it to the last, with
it to stand or fall. It was the ideal OF
a country united in all that is great,
and noble, and good; of nation whose
liberties should he grounded in the equal.
ity of all men, and whose name should
blaze forth untarnished by the miser
les of bondage: it was this ideal that in.
fused the spirit of war into the veins o.
citizens reared to the pursuits O.
| peace,-it was this ideal that sped then
to the onset with that higher valor which
martial training alone can never i'm.
part. Thus inspired, the citizen soldier
stood his ground; thus he fought and
bled in the service of his cause: thus he
offered up his last breath on the field O
battle for the rescue of the Union.-
Years have rolled by. The smoke o
war has cleared away, and Peace be
nign has showered her blessings upon {
nation more firmly united and streng
thened by the dreadful shock. The beau
tiful custom has sprung up of annually
decking with the bloom and foliage O.
spring the graves of the heroes that fel
IN battle or have passed away since the
war. In performing this self-impose6
but sacred duty, we who stand upor
a soil which but twenty years ago was
contiguous to the wilderness, remem.
Der with equal gratitude the services Of
those who iell in defending the homes
OF the absent ones against the blood
thirsty savage.-Enshrouded in the
darkness of night, our fallen heroe.
slumber in their silent graves. As we
stand upon the sod that covers theil
dust and lift our eyes to that flag which
again waves over a united country, the
emblem Of all that ennobles the heart
we feel thai their life-blood was not Of
fered up in vain; and we glory in the
thought that the memory of their deeds
will live on history's pages and in bar
die story when marble columns shall
have crumbled into DUST
The next exercise was song ane
chorus by the mixed choir, Just be.
fore the battle, MOTHER Then Mr.. G.
Fischer assembled the stage and deliv.
cred an address III German. Mr.. Fsch